My opinion is that any drum thickness sander that runs on 115 voltsis underpowered for furniture and cabinet making. 115 volt motorspretty much max out at 1 3/4 real horsepower. Such smaller-motorsanders are alright for crafts in softwoods, making miniatures, and thicknessing musical instrument parts.

It just takes a lot of oomph to sand hardwood door panels with adrum sander. Others may not agree. It depends on how patient you are I guess.

I bought mine off of a CL add for three hundred. If it is in good shape it would be worth the money. If I had a commercial shop I would worry about power and the flex of the open ended sander. I only have my small hobby shop, and it works very well. I can do a whole lot more a whole lot quicker now.

It’s one of the best drum sanders in it’s size and price on the market. There is nothing it can’t handle, including hard woods. Let’s see, 500+ hard maple end grain cutting boards, three red oak kitchens, and I’ve lost count of the number of other cabinet projects along with lazy susans and bank boxes over the past three years and all I have replaced was the rubber bushing between the motor and drum. Oh, I forgot, I just finished sanding red oak raised panel doors for a refinishing projects. Yep, I would jump on it.

‘My opinion is that any drum thickness sander that runs on 115 voltsis underpowered for furniture and cabinet making’

I am not sure how much I agree with this. I have a Jet 16-32 that is 115 and have never felt that it was underpowered. The last thing I ran through it was a tabletop made out of ebony, lacewood and babingia, There were no issues with it.

I sold mine because of my inability to keep the *&%$ed head aligned and, the carrier belt delaminated, too. Sold it and a bunch of sanding rolls for $200. Bought a “V” sander kit from Stockroom Supply and have never been happier.If I REALLY needed a drum sander, I’d get one that’s closed on both ends/sides.

-- Gene 'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton